Taipei tourist pamphlets useless to visitors: official

MISSING THE POINT:：The Taipei City councilor said the pamphlets lacked detailed information and proper maps and did not meet the needs of foreign visitors

By Mo Yan-chih / By Mo Yan-chih

Fri, May 10, 2013 - Page 3

Tourism pamphlets issued by Taipei City’s Department of Information and Tourism lack information on popular attractions as well as a well-designed map, while some activities on event lists were outdated, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City councilor said yesterday, urging the department to offer pamphlets that meet the needs of foreign tourists.

The bimonthly pamphlet — Spectacular Taipei — was launched by the department in 2008 to promote tourism in the city.

KMT Taipei City Councilor Wang Hong-wei (王鴻薇) compared the pamphlets with tourism maps issued in New Taipei City (新北市), Greater Taichung and Greater Kaohsiung, and said the pamphlets in Taipei contained simplified information that was not useful to foreign tourists.

“If foreign tourists want to go to Taipei 101, they can’t find any information in the pamphlet. The city map is too small, too. How can this pamphlet be useful to foreign tourists?” she said at the Taipei City Council.

In addition to featuring less-known eateries and city image souvenirs sold at Taipei City Hall, the latest pamphlet also includes advertisements for local restaurants and souvenir shops, and lists events that had already been held, she said.

The map and related information accounted for just 20 percent of the content in the pamphlet.

The tourism pamphlet issued by the New Taipei City Government, on the other hand, featured a much larger map with more detailed information on top attractions included, accounting for 43 percent of the pamphlet, she said.

“The latest issue of Taipei’s pamphlet features family activities in April and May. Do you expect foreign visitors to attend parent-child activities at a local district office during their stay? It is nothing more than a brochure for local residents,” she said.

Huang Hui-ching (黃惠靜), a division chief at the department, said the pamphlets are issued every two weeks, and the department aimed to provide updated and varied information on local restaurants, new attractions and local activities.

The city also issued another tourism map, called Fun Taipei, which focused on providing information on top city attractions and detailed maps for foreign tourists, she said.

“Spectacular Taipei is designed to inform visitors about what’s going on in town, and we will continue to improve the content,” she said.

The pamphlet comes in four languages — Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean — and is available at tourism service centers, hotels, airports and major attractions, the department said.